Feed-in tariff provides windfall for livestock farm

The owners of a West Yorkshire beef cattle farm have slashed electricity bills and started generating an additional income for their retirement with the help of wind turbines.

As well as providing a steady source of free electricity and cutting bills, installing wind turbines has allowed the owners of the farm, Maureen and David Pickford, to benefit from Feed-in Tariff payments (FiTs) for each kilowatt-hour of electricity generated on site.

Maureen explains: “Although we’re not retired yet, my husband and I were keen to plan ahead and secure a welcome extra income for when we do stop working. With electricity costs set to soar even higher over the next few years, we saw it as a real investment for the future.

“We had seen large companies making the most of the strong winds in our area and thought there was no reason we couldn’t do the same for ourselves."

"The wind speed here is around 6.5 m/s and in the year since it was installed the turbine has generated around 15,000kWh of electricity – enough to power our whole house! As a result, we’ve been able to cut our electricity bills by around two thirds.”

The Kingspan MCS-accredited KW6 is specifically designed with rural domestic, smallholdings and agricultural applications in mind, and is the most robust small-scale turbine on the global market.

“Wind power is not just an option for large farms, and it’s great to see the KW6 delivering such substantial benefits for Maureen and David. Our turbines provide the perfect solution for farmers like the Pickfords who want to make the most of the energy savings and additional income wind power offers" said Gavin Kerr, Kingspan Wind Technical Sales Manager.

“As well as being extremely efficient, small wind turbines deliver a significantly higher return on investment than most other Renewables on the market.

What’s more, unlike larger models, small-scale turbines like the KW6 are favoured by local authorities, which allows for straightforward grid connection and planning permission as well as hassle-free installation and servicing.”

The installation of the turbine did not present any planning issues for the farm. “We didn’t have any problems when we decided to go ahead with the installation. In fact, the whole process took just eight months from the initial decision right through to full operation" said Maureen.

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